Etymologically
Log in

pianeta

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 21:10. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT give pianeta two numbered entries: the masculine noun for a planet and the feminine noun for the priest's chasuble, both from Late Latin planēta.[1][2][3]

pianeta1 planet

Pronunciation

  • /pjaˈne.ta/[4]

Forms

pianeta m (plural pianeti)[4] Older forms include Old Italian planeta and Old Italian pianeto.[1][5] The word was also feminine in Old Italian.[1][6] The word is Neapolitan chianeta in Naples.[7]

Etymology

The planet is borrowed from Late Latin planēta, from Ancient Greek πλανήτης (planḗtēs, “wandering, wanderer”), from πλανάω (planáō, “to wander, to stray”).[1][2][3] The Greek verb is of uncertain origin.[1][8] Greek called the planets “wandering stars”, as against the fixed stars, and the word reached Latin in Ausonius in the 4th century.[7]

The Latin word is also the source of French planète, recorded from the 12th century, and Spanish planeta.[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ristoro d'Arezzo uses the learned form planeta in his Composizione del mondo of 1282.[1][3] The form pianeta appears, as a feminine noun, before 1294 in Brunetto Latini, and as a masculine noun before 1321 in Dante.[1] The planets were then the seven heavenly bodies believed to circle the Earth: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.[8][3]

Semantic evolution

In old poetry pianeta could mean any star, and Dante speaks of a night “deprived of every planet” (privata / d'ogne pianeta).[3][9] From the belief in the influence of the stars came the sense “fate, destiny”, recorded before 1388 in Antonio Pucci;[1][3] Panzini noted in 1908 that it popularly meant bad luck, and Manzoni uses it in this sense.[1][3] By 1923 the word also named the slip of paper with a printed horoscope sold by wandering vendors.[1][3]

Modern astronomy restricts the word to the bodies that orbit the Sun or another star.[3][5] The diminutive pianetino, a minor planet or asteroid, is recorded in 1660.[1] Journalism uses it for a world of its own, often without a preposition: il pianeta calcio, il pianeta donna.[3][9][10]

Timeline

  • 1282 – Ristoro d'Arezzo uses the form planeta.[1][3]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses pianeta as a feminine noun.[1]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses it as a masculine noun.[1]
  • Before 1388 – Antonio Pucci uses it for fate.[1]
  • 1660 – The diminutive pianetino is recorded.[1]
  • 1923 – Panzini records the sense “printed horoscope”.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (astronomy) A planet, a celestial body that orbits the Sun or another star and shines by reflected light: Marte è il quarto pianeta del sistema solare.[3][5][9]
  2. (historical) Each of the seven heavenly bodies once believed to revolve around the Earth.[3][5]
  3. (figurative) A world of its own, a sphere of habits or interests; in journalism followed by a noun: il pianeta scuola.[3][9]
  4. (literary) A star; also a person held up as a model.[3][9]
  5. (figurative) fate, destiny.[3][10]
  6. A printed horoscope on a slip of paper; in this sense also feminine.[3][10][11]

Word family

  • pianetino
  • pianetoide

pianeta2 chasuble

Pronunciation

  • /pjaˈne.ta/[4]

Forms

pianeta f (plural pianete)[4] Old forms include Old Italian pianea, Old Italian pianeda and Old Italian pianetta.[12]

Etymology

The chasuble is borrowed from Late Latin planēta, recorded from the 5th century and in Isidore of Seville, with Cassiodorus's planetica in the 6th century and Medieval Latin planeta at Treviso in 867, at Parma in 913 and at Farfa in 1125.[1][7] It is the same Latin word as the planet, from Ancient Greek πλανήτης (planḗtēs, “wandering”).[1][2]

The reason for the name is not certain.[1][2] DELI and DEI think the garment was so called because it could turn around the wearer;[1][7] Nocentini, GRADIT and Devoto–Oli start from the Latin sense “travelling cloak”, the coat of one who goes wandering.[2][3][5] Spanish planeta has the same sense.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first records are the Esposizione del Pater noster of the 14th century and a document from Monte Amiata of 1363;[1][3] GRADIT dates the word before 1342.[1][3] The Esposizione lists the chasubles among the holy things of the church, with chalices and corporals.[6]

Semantic evolution

The chasuble was at first a closed cloak with an opening for the head.[7][5] It was later shortened and cut away at the sides until it looked like a scapular, and the Second Vatican Council brought back the older shape.[12] Boccaccio's will leaves a chasuble with stole and maniple of red silk.[6] The colour changes with the liturgical season and the ceremony.[1][9]

Timeline

  • Before 1342 – GRADIT's first date for the vestment.[3]
  • 1363 – Pianeta is recorded in a document from Monte Amiata.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Roman Catholicism) A chasuble, the richly decorated outer vestment the priest wears over the alb to celebrate Mass.[3][5][9][4]

Word family

  • pianetaio

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2893
  8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 269
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  10. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca